Anyone else sick of Nancy Pelosi?

[Redneck Socialist]

She was just on the Diane Rehm show spewing her usual "lets all just get along" drivel. Apparently she actually sent a letter to House republicans saying that if the Dems retook the House that they would pledge to work in a non-partisan way with, and "accommodate" the republicans.

:wtf:

Is it too much to ask for the Democratic Party to find some leaders that might actually lead? If I hear one more Democrat talk about working in a non-partisan way or accommodating the repukes I'm going to scream.

C'mon leadership, get up off your ass and start fighting for us. This election engendered enormous enthusiasm among the Democratic rank and file and the leadership has squandered all of that energy.

</rant>

[placton]

1. How can we support our party

if this is gonna be their approach? We are progressives, not appeasers.

[xultar]

2. Quickly tiring of those who felt it necessary to state their religious

status right after the election...it was straightup out of 1984.

:grr:

[Redneck Socialist]

5. Yeah, I'm pretty tired of that too.

I don't give a goddamn how fucking pious you supposedly are. Just get up there and fight like hell for my interests.

[hippiechick]

39. It's the same thing they did after 9/11

... all tried to 'out-patriot' each other ... well, now they're all trying to 'out-Jesus' each other.


Digusting, really. Just do your damn jobs !!


:hippie:

[PROGRESSIVE1]

3. We need new leadership such as Dick Durbin!!!

[Kitka]

13. You bet.

Durbin isn’t perfect – but as mainstream politicians go, he’s one of the most steadfast ones I’ve seen.

[genius]

45. Help make that happen. The Senate vote is tomorrow. Go Durbin!

Durbin is up against Reid( who has been backing a lot of the Bush administration's policies) for Senate leader. For the House, I'd like to see the head of the Progressive Caucus, Dennis Kucinich, as minority leader.

[sui generis]

4. I completely agree

the other side plays dirty and takes no prisoners. No we can't all get along. If you're a republican you can go fuck yourself.

I'm a democrat living in a democratic country. Take your christian taliban constitution changing un-American asses to another country if you don't like it here, otherwise you better get ready for a fight.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[fudge stripe cookays]

7. It's a good story, actually.

:D

[SoCalDem]

11. It's like being raped and then having to invite the rapist to dinner

:puke:

[Kolesar]

6. So which issues do you wish her to "lead" on?

What would you like her to say?

[Redneck Socialist]

8. I would like her to say that the reactionary right wing agenda...

is destroying this country and that as leader of the House Dems she pledges to oppose it at every turn.

I don't think that is too much to expect from the supposed leader of the opposition. Let's oppose a few things from time to time.

On Edit: Typo

[merbex]

29. Your first sentence should be the mission statement of

the DNC

[fudge stripe cookays]

10. How about...

"We'll attempt to be non-partisan, get along, and work for the common good, but when the Republicans take their numerical advantage too far, and begin pressing it so much that they impinge on the rights of citizens, we will fight them JUST as hard as they fight us."

It would at least give us a little confidence that they are doing something to keep our rights intact.

[Kolesar]

15. Nice try here and in #8, but those are not issues ... eom

edit: #8, not #10

[Redneck Socialist]

16. I'm not talking about specific issues

I'm talking about the message that is sent when our "leaders" tell the republicans that if the Dems win the pubs need not be worried.

Right now we are the minority party. We have little hope of advancing our policies. What we can hope for is blocking the other sides agenda and fighting to keep things from getting worse.

[Kolesar]

20. What would you like her to say then?

And when would you like her to say it? A vague, broad expression of discontent is not going to accomplish anything.

[Redneck Socialist]

26. There are 216 million people eligible to vote in this country

only 60 million of them voted for bush. That is no mandate. Clearly the vast majority of people in this country do not actively support the president's policies. We Democrats in the House stand ready to oppose the presidents destructive and dangerous policies. They are wrong for the country and we won't stand idly by and let these wrongheaded policies be implemented. We will fight. We will fight hard for those values, those Democratic values that are best for the country.

Something along those lines would be nice.

I don't expect or even want a laundry list of specific issues. All I'm asking for is a unified message from the Democratic leadership that says that while this battle may be lost the fight goes on and fight we will.

My original post was an angry rant. What makes me angry is talk of accommodating the enemy. Make no mistake republicans are the enemy in my mind and accommodating them is not in the best interest of the country. I know that Nancy Pelosi is never going to use terms like that and she shouldn't. What she should do is make clear that the Democrats oppose the president and will due so with vigor.

This election got more people engaged in politics than ever before. The Democratic Party was united as never before. United by a common enemy and desperation perhaps but still united. IMO the Democratic Leadership is squandering that interest and unity with this message of reaching out and working with the republicans.

Polarization is good for politics. It brings more people in and gets them involved. By sending the message that you are going to work with the republicans you throw a wet blanket over that fire of enthusiasm at a time when you should be fanning those flames, not stomping them out. Now more than ever it is important to come together and oppose the president and not allow him to capitalize on his fictional mandate

[Carolina]

43. excellent post

and I agree wholeheartedly.

[fudge stripe cookays]

21. Exactly.

A message needs to be sent that we are not pantywaists.

This has nothing to do with individual issues. It has to do with standing up for our beliefs as a whole. ALL of them.

FSC

[Cocoa]

9. why isn't Barack Obama getting criticized on DU?

the Sunday after his election, he appeared on two news programs and was extremely conciliatory toward George Bush, describing a warm phone call from the president, and the mutual desire to work together.

My opinion is that this talk of conciliation is just talk from both Pelosi and Obama.

I also think that the Right Wing is threatened by Obama, and is going to target him, here's an early preview:

http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20041113-102453-6078r.htm

[Redneck Socialist]

12. I don't know about Obama, but

this has been a consistent theme with Pelosi of late.

Even in losing this election we had a tremendous opportunity to build on the enthusiasm that was created as we fought to remove bush. Had the Democratic party chosen it could keep that momentum going and really gone forth and fought the reactionary thugs ruining our country. They chose not to do that. Instead they march out the alleged leadership to talk about how we are going get along for the benefit of the country. When your country is under attack (and IMO the pukes are attacking everything that makes this country great) getting along with the enemy most definitely does not benefit the country.

[molly]

14. No

[Bernardo de La Paz]

17. She Must say she is cooperative. Looks good. Watch what she DOES!

Of course she must say that she will be cooperative. And to an extent she must be. Since she is in the minority, she has to pick and choose her battles because any minority leader is not going to win many. Watch what she does, which battles she picks and how she fights them.

Also, note that since she is the public face, she will have other people wielding the metaphorical hatchets and cudgels for her.

Duh.

[Padraig18]

18. I think she's totally lame.

I've never been able to stand her, and I've seen nothing of late that would lead me to change that feeling.

[pippin]

19. Pelosi needs to go the way of Tom Daschle

and other boot licking crypto-repugs masquerading as democrats. I am tired of the co-optations these career politicians are engaged in to the detriment of the whole party. I sincerely believe that most Democrats want a party that stands for. There can be no concessions as far as I am concerned with what Bush and his neo-con agenda, so let's forget the "let's get along with each other" shit.

[Kolesar]

22. The leader of the Democrats opposing the IWR is hardly a "Crypto-repug"

Pelosi managed to get 2/3 of the Democrats in the House to stick to their principles and vote against the Iraq War Resolution. She earned my respect. She is a leader.

[Carolina]

44. exactly

wimpy leadership begets defeat.

When we were in the majority in 1993, the fucking repukes NEVER said let's work together, let's get along. They fought like hell against our then Democratic president and against the legacies of other Democratic administrations from FDR's New Deal (Social Security, SEC, gov't regs of corporate excess ...) to LBJ's Great Society (Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start ...), and they've been winning ever since.

Appeasement didn't work with Hitler and it won't work with repukes. The so-called Dem leaders who tread the repuke-lite path need to be defeated. I am not surprised Daschle lost and won't miss his wimp-o-crat ways and his corporate lobbyist wife. Ya think he's going back to SD? Fuck no, watch him set up shop on K Street!

If we're going to lose, let's lose standing FOR something, fighting FOR something. Otherwise it's time to get the fuck outta here.

[GreenPartyVoter]

23. Dennis K needs to take over her job asap

[Darranar]

41. Now that would be great to see!

Someone who might actually fight the Republicans on important issues....

[vickie]

24. Pelosi is a pathetic disgrace! I hope she is merely inarticulate

and not possibly as stupid and weak and she appears. We have gained nothing under her sorry 'leadership'. Hopefully some enterprising house dems will overthrow her lame carcass.

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Padraig18]

46. That's a highly-charged word to toss around so casually. n/t

[tokenlib]

27. Pelosi has disappointed me..

An opposition party leader is what I would prefer. But then, I don't think I'd be happy unless it was Dennis Kucinich, Maxine Waters or someone else who be a royal Pain-in-the-ass for the GOP dictators.

Nancy Pelosi has had great moments--but I want relentless opposition without the "let's work together" drivel when you cant work with DeLay and his crowd.

[bob-calhoun]

30. No I'm not sick of Pelosi

Pelosi is a far better opposition leader than what we have had previously. Yes, she could be more hardcore in her opposition but right now she kind of has to go with the flow for a bit. While it would be nice to have Kucinich or Barbara Lee, imagine if the House minority leader was Tom Lantos for a second.

[newyawker99]

47. Hi bob-calhoun!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

31. I agree with you on one thing Redneck . . .

I'm sick of hearing all this talk about cooperating with Repukes, but I'm willing to see what Pelosi actually DOES.

If cooperating means tanking all of their right-wing idealogue judges, then I have no problem with her retoric.

Let's wait and see.

[Redneck Socialist]

36. To her credit she lead the charge against bush's war

My problem with wait and see is that the Democratic leadership does not seem to understand the power of language. The rhetoric is important. Extending your hand to the opposition, even rhetorically is not a powerful gesture.

We lost this fight but there are several fights just around the corner. Instead of reaching out to the pubs (who are just going to bite your hand off) let's lay out our opposition to the right in clear, unequivocal language.

Making nice hasn't worked in the past. Why should we expect it to work now?

[MrTriumph]

32. Yes. I cannot imagine one Rep. Con. leader being so soft

Rightly, on the radio she brought up the Dem. Party now holding the high ground on budget issues. You might think she'd like the Dem.s to capitalize on this. To fire up the base and attract old-time conservatives, the Democrats could stage a walk out during the vote to raise the debt limit. Or have an anti-porkathon: ask Dem. House members to stand on the steps of the capitol to read directly from the budget the provisions for right wing pork.

Alas, too confrontational for Nancy. Can you imagine what the Rep.s would we doing were the tables turned?

[leyton]

33. Good god, the election was less than a month ago, get a grip.

Pelosi has done a fine job of leading the Democrats in the house, and she deserves more credit than you give her. Yeah, she's saying 'lets all get along' because that's what everyone says in the wake of an election. You can't expect every elected Democrat to publicly whine about the election after the GOP had such a solid victory, even considering the voting problems.

[Rockerdem]

34. Relax.

This is just boilerplate. The honeymoon, destined to be the shortest on record. Nancy is a fighter.

[Redneck Socialist]

37. The boilerplate is important

but as I wrote in an earlier post extending a verbal hand to the pubs is essentially a gesture of weakness. A gesture that is not respected or reciprocated by our opponents.

The language we use is important. We oppose the republican plans (at least I think we do) so let's state that clearly and not pretend otherwise.

[MaineDem]

40. I agree with you

And welcome to DU! :hi:

[Hephaistos]

35. Wow, operative central

All those wanting to stir further dissent in the Democratic party and dump on the best minority leader in decades, check in here!

Remember, you must vote ONLY for those who believe exactly what you do, and of whose every action you approve. You must also attempt to instill loating of the few effective party leaders in others.

There IS NO more important task than to start a bloody intra-party war right now. There's nothing like inciting a nice, satisfying little riot.

Remember, invisible Bill Frist bumperstickers available for free at the next undercover meetup!

[hippiechick]

38. Hear Hear !!

I have thought all along that she's too ... accomodating to be effective. Especially now, we need someone whose gonna hold their feet to the fire until they scream for mercy, not a nice PTA mom who will have them over for tea to 'discuss their behavior'...


:hippie:

[BlueCaliDem]

42. The Democratic Party *has* found leaders that can lead them...

...in the Republican Party.
Yeah, yeah, I know I'm being cynical, but sheesh! After that show of disarray in January 2001 when the Black Caucus stood helplessly up for Al Gore without a single Senator backing them, I just felt so disheartened.